Dog people

“But what if they don't like him?” I whined to my boyfriend. He responded: “They like dogs. He does what dogs do. Dog lovers like what dogs do.” And he was right. Within minutes of introducing Whizz to the people who will look after him when I camp this Summer, they were declaring “oh I love him already”. Which had the knock on effect of me being able to see how he is delightful in many ways – his exuberance is attractive (and not always the nuisance I see it as). So, useful to notice that when we see and point out the positives, others then may get reminded of them too.

I'm not really that interested in dogs, but I am interested in people. Within moments of meeting people I often think (internally, tho occasionally I feel able to declare it) “oh I love this person already!” I know it's easy to get put off when people show their hurts in ways that don't seem kind or constructive. But that's people, it's what they do sometimes. They also show their hearts and their hopes. And as a people lover, I like what people do. I don't think any of us are limited to a role – we can be dog people and people people and anything-else-you-can-think-of people. I suspect that early experiences influence how receptive we are to the delights we can see in dogs or people or whatever. But no matter what happened early on, our eyes and hearts can be opened so that we can let others in just a bit more.

Today I like my dog more than I did this time yesterday, and I'm grateful to the couple who helped me see him in a better light. I realise I do this with people a lot – encourage them to see others in a better light. Sometimes we're not ready for that – we haven't been heard well enough about what a pain in the bottom being a dog owner/wife/worker etc is to be open enough to be reminded of their likeable points. So it's a balance of listening and maybe then helping focus attention on all that's good. Sounds about right to me!